The invention described herein relates to beater and mixer blades.
Planetary mixers, which include at least one stirrer (or mixing blade) that revolves (or orbits) in a mixing vessel (or tank) about a central axis while simultaneously revolving on its own axis, have an advantage over regular handheld mixers or blenders in that they move the stirrer or stirrers through all areas of the mixing vessel and are especially useful when mixing high viscosity mixtures which cannot be adequately mixed with a mixer or blender having a fixed stirrer. Planetary mixers usually have stirrers that are mounted on a drive mechanism which includes means for lifting the stirrers out of the mixing vessel. The most commonly known planetary mixer is the type that is typically found in kitchens for mixing dough and various food products, having a single stirrer and somewhat hemispherical bottom mixing bowl. Such stirrers have certain drawbacks such as not having good top to bottom mixing capability, therefore making it necessary to increase the mixing time in order to get a homogeneous mix. Overcoming some of these problems in blenders and mixers can require a heavier duty drive system, which in turn increases the cost of the machine.
A crossbar is sometimes located at the bottom of the stirrer or beater but it is primarily for strengthening the stirrer rather than for any mixing action. The crossbar however causes undue strain on the beater or mixer motor because of the high side loads that they produce at the farthest point away from the motor and drive as well as the additional torque required to rotate the bottom crossbar in high viscosity materials. The presence of a crossbar or a larger bottom portion of the beater limit the ability of the beater or mixer to mix high viscosity materials. In order to mix high viscosity materials and overcome some of these challenges current beater designs use expensive materials or complex configurations that unfortunately also create a high load on the motor.